Do you ever find yourself wishing that the people you encounter on the job would "get real" or "just use some common sense"? Well, one person's sense is not necessarily common to all. A major source of workplace misunderstandings can be the differences between the generations we work with and serve.

This high-energy workshop will teach you how to overcome intergenerational frustrations by:

Understanding the major influences that shape each generation and how they impact your work environment.

Learning the characteristics of meaningful work for each generation: What defines success and accomplishment for them? What motivates them? How do they want to be communicated with?

Becoming aware of and challenging your own perceptions, beliefs, and assumptions about the generations.

Valuing and utilizing different generational traits instead of just accepting and coping with them.

At the conclusion of the course you will be better able to communicate with, learn from, and collaborate successfully with people of all ages.

Workshop Description: This all-day, highly interactive workshop will provide an overview of the events that shape each generation and how they impact our dealings with one another. Through exercises, demonstrations of real life scenarios, and lots of practice, you will learn how to interact with co-workers and library users from all generations. You will develop strategies to communicate both positive and negative information, resolve differences as they occur, motivate others, and celebrate together in a positive work environment.

Pre-workshop assignment: Students are asked to collect and bring to the workshop some specific situations/scenarios in which intergenerational issues have caused stress and misunderstandings. These will be used for discussion during the workshop.